Residents' Association Forum

Thanks to Admin who posted the article re: Community Safety Plus, contacting local businesses, claiming they are acting on behalf of Surrey Police, and have an association with Thames Ditton Today magazine. Finally resulting in a bill for the business concerned of £300!I will make management aware of this, as well as other staff, as my head office is based in Thames Ditton. Being a family run businesses and in times which are economically rather testing - as we deal predominantly with the health sector, we can do with not having to pay out estortionate amounts of money to rogue traders!!!!

Going off on a slight tangent I have got to say as a more recent resident of TD I am quite simply astounded by the ever increasing stream of doorstep salesmen, hawkers, charity collectors, tradesmen that seem to roll up at my front door, at often all sorts of hours, and try their luck at grabbing some of my hard earned.

I have yet to go as far as opting for the obligatory window sticker saying we are not interested ....period!! in light of the fact that I am sure they would ignore it anyway so maybe a well trained rotweiler maybe more appropriate!

Back OT: this sort of telesales, or postal sales, gambit is hard to eradicate because if they are providing some service (which they are), and if a punter agrees to pay for it (which some do), then strictly it is not illegal. The grey area is the misrepresentation. The company may get sales by commission, and the buck for any misrepresentation stops with the sales person who, for commission and probably not directly employed by the company, makes the call. The company will protest that its own hands are clean, and only the individual sales person may be 'burned.'

Some are cold callers by phone, some on the doorstep, and some by email or post. There are several outfits which try to trap businesses into paying over the odds for some service, usually for a fairly small amount (so as to minimise the chances that any instance will be regarded as serious enough to go through the hassle of reporting it), and maybe a junior person in an office will sign it off. For example, the well known pitch from some firm stating that your domain name is about to expire (which they can work out, together with the domain owner's address, from the internet). They offer to renew it for you. What they omit to mention is that this is going to cost you five times the going rate! Caveat emptor. Other questionable ploys in this grey, hard-to-prove area include some listing in a business calendar (which is indeed published somewhere but is of no value in advertising a business), or inclusion in some vanity publication.

If there's misrepresentation, then that is illegal. But it's hard to prove. That's why in the latest issue of TDT I recommend that if you want some diagnostic aid, or really want to pursue a cold call proposition (generally a bad idea) you (a) ask for their name and number to call back, and if they actually will give that, you (b) then ask the cold caller to put their proposition in writing and mail it to you before it will be further considered.

The recent (2005 I think) legislation enabling anyone to establish a Community Interest Company for ostensibly good purposes is, I am afraid, being exploited by a number of hucksters. Punters think that such a company, officially registered and supposedly regulated by government, must be OK and even good news. But some are exploiting the charitable and community-minded instincts of many citizens.

Then there are companies like those who collect old clothes for some heart-rending charity. But only a small fraction of the profit from the onward sale of those clothes actually goes to the charity. That preserves strict legality. The rest goes to cover 'business expenses' i.e. profit and income for those involved. You should look at any business whose business is getting your money for charity just as carefully as a business that is openly and fully commercial.

Another theme of recent cold-callers at the door has been loft insulation. I am looking at that one ("when time permits"). Any readers here got recent experience of the pitch? I think it's based on government grants being available.

Difficult when a charity becomes a business or when a business is set up to raise funds for charity. Charitable ends get some funds but at least as much if not far more goes to people who make a business or a career out of it. I prefer to give my money to local causes run by volunteers. At least that way you know you are not funding someones large house or 4x4 or some swish advertising agency. How much do those tearjerker ads on TV cost - "just two pounds a month could meet our vast advertising expenses, pay our staff a handsome salary, run our head office in London and save a kitten." They seem to show those ads around teatime when caring mothers will be at home watching!

My response to cold callers and people who knock on my door is always no. Doesn't matter what they are selling or how much money they wish to save me. Fact is I didn't seek their contact and they are wasting my time. If they are having to sell their services by badgering people in their homes then it is not worth having. Hear me, British Gas????????????????????

I was rather intrigued to meet two young and personable Garden Designers in the village about three weeks ago, touting for garden design business on the street and from door to door. And that is when I became aware that the financial crisis is biting....

Bit of further research :As of 19 December, Community Safety Plus CIC is one of 484 publishing firms entered on the Ledger of Support Publishing Firms about which The Advertising Protection Agency (http://www.advertisingprotectionagency.org/ledger-of-support-publishing-firms.php) has received multiple complaints.

The Elmbridge Community Safety Partnership have published a new survey for 2014/15 to obtain the views of residents and businesses on the fear of crime and antisocial behaviour as well as the actual level of crime being experienced. The survey is available to be completed online at